NHL rescinds instigator penalty to Bruins' Chara

TORONTO (AP) — Boston's Zdeno Chara will play in Game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres after the NHL rescinded an instigator penalty assessed to the Bruins' defenseman in a Game 5 loss.

Chara was assessed a minor penalty for instigating, a major for fighting and a game misconduct at the end of Buffalo's 4-1 victory Friday night. That resulted in an automatic one-game suspension, pending review.

The NHL rescinded the suspension on Saturday under Rule 47.22, which states it shall be served unless the director of hockey operations "deems the incident is not related to the score, previous incidents in the game or prior games, retaliatory in nature, 'message sending,' etc."

The Bruins lead the first-round series 3-2 going into Monday's game at Boston.